definition

Saturday, July 31, 2010

"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it.Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare.Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary.Impossible is nothing."

-Muhammad Ali

A lot of people who have seen my art have asked me about the specifics of this piece. To them, the quote is self-explanatory (although many doubt it’s inherent truth), but it always comes down to: Why wrestlers? Especially showcasing a quote made by a famous boxer. Well sports fans, let me enlighten you.

Art has always been a very personal thing to me. Most works would generally take hours to complete. And when they were done, they were almost like children to me. This made most of my work: A) Too expensive for the average person to buy. B) Me, unwilling sell it in the first place, or BOTH. This resulted in most of my art (when I had time to do it) being done for, well….me!

So, when I’d see art or a poster that inspired me, I’d simply take hold of that notion and make something of my own. Something that suited my tastes or represented something I found inspirational. I’d never really considered if what I did made sense to anyone else. I guess because I would generally be next to them to answer questions if-and-when anyone ever saw it.

This was the case with “Impossible is Nothing”

A few years ago, I had gone down to my best friend’s basement gym. And he had shown me an old Adidas poster he had found featuring Muhammad Ali, and the quote you see above. Now I’ve always respected Ali, but this quote blew me away. To me, the quote held a great truth followed by an indisputable call-to-action. WOW!. I was so impressed my friend had offered to give me the poster. But I had told him “That’s O.K., I’ll make my own”.

So I set out to find some inspirational figures of my own. I didn’t have to look very far. The “Attitude Era” of the WWE was in full swing. And since the ages-old veil of secrecy concerning wrestling being scripted (not “fake”) had been lifted, fans were given an unprecedented opportunity to see what these guys go through to put on a show. And the more I learned, the more I felt they were the most inspirational people in sports AND entertainment, and here’s a few reasons why.

There is no “off” season in professional wrestling. They work 300+ days a year (mostly away from home), and often work with/through injuries they suffer during shows (whether they are “working” on T.V. or not). Despite that, very few make nearly the money your average NFL or NBA star does.

Most manage to stay in incredible physical shape, despite not having access to their hometown gym, and having to eat on-the-road (How’d you eat last time you traveled?). You can’t really even blame age, since the three in my painting are all in their 30s and 40s. In light of that, what is our excuse to not be moderately fit? Considering our set work schedules, being surrounded by our loved ones, and having a label on everything we pull from our fridge.

And lastly, most of superstars in the WWE (the ones in my painting included) worked and suffered YEARS before finding their way to the big lights, and TV cameras of the WWE. They took the same beatings, chair shots, and falls in high school gymnasiums in front of 10-15 people as they do in front of millions now on TV and Pay-Per-Views.

They enjoy the limelight now, because they believed in themselves, and what they were doing. They may have lost hope, from time to time, but they NEVER gave up.